Shearing crusher

ABSTRACT

A crusher comprising a cylindrical crushing chamber defined by a casing composed of at least two segments dividably joined together diametrically thereof, the crushing chamber having a feed inlet at its starting end and a discharge outlet at its terminal end, stationary blades interposed between the joining faces of the segments and extending over the entire length of the crushing chamber in parallel to its axis, and blocklike rotary cutters rotatably supported on a shaft side by side within the crushing chamber and each having on its outer periphery a plurality of helical blades at a desired twist angle with respect to the axis. Since the blade of the block-like rotary cutter has the desired twist angle with respect to the stationary blades, both blades shear a material in an obliquely cutting manner while a thrust acting on the face of the helical blade pushes the material forward within the crushing chamber during shearing. The crushing chamber is formed in its lower portion with an opening extending over its entire length and provided with size regulating member having a semicircular cross section and a great number of discharge control apertures for controlling the crushed product to a uniform size. The size regulating member may further be provided at the terminal end of the crushing chamber to continuously discharge from the chamber crushed pieces not greater than the desired size to permit the thrust to act effectively. Irrespective of whether the material is hard, soft, ductile or fragile the crusher is capable of crushing various materials such as tire incorporating bead wire, empty can, plastics, paper, wood, fiber, glass, straw, etc.

United States Patent Ishikura [111, 3,823,878 July 16, 1974 SHEARING CRUSHER [75] Inventor: Yutaka Ishikura, Osaka, Japan [73] Assignee: Horai Tekko Sho Co., Ltd., Osaka,

Japan 22 Filed: Nov. 17, 1972 211 App1.No.:307,502

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 17, 1972 Japan 47-92546 [52] U.S. Cl 241/69, 241/73, 241/188 R, 241/2601 [51] Int. Cl. 802C 13/284 [58] Field of Search 241/69, 73, 82.1, 89, 89.3, 241/188 R, 282.1, 292.1, 286, 260.1

Primary Examiner-Roy Lake Assistant Examiner-E. F. Desmond Attorney, Agent, or FirmArmstrong, Nikaido and Wegner. r

[57] ABSTRACT A crusher comprising a cylindrical crushing chamber defined by a casing composed of at least two segments dividably joined together diametrically thereof, the crushing chamber having a feed inlet at its starting end and a discharge outlet at its terminal end, stationary blades interposed between the joining faces of the segments and extending over the entire length of the crushing chamber in parallel to its axis, and blocklike rotary cutters rotatably supported on a shaft side by side within the crushing chamber and each having on its outer periphery a plurality of helical blades at a desired twist angle with respect to the axis. Since the blade of the block-like rotary cutter has the desired twist angle with respect to the stationary blades, both blades shear a material in an obliquely cutting manner while a thrust acting on the face of the helical blade pushes the material forwardwithin the crushing chamber during shearing. The crushing chamber is formed in its lower portion with an opening extending over its entire length and provided with size regulating member having a semicircular cross section and a great number of discharge control apertures for controlling the crushed, product to a uniform size. The sizeregulating member may further be provided at the terminal end of the crushing chamber to continuously discharge from the chamber crushed pieces not greater than the desired size to permit the thrust to act effectively. Irrespective-of whether the material is hard, soft, ductile or fragile the crusher is capable of crushing various materials such as tire incorporating bead wire, empty can, plastics, paper, wood, fiber, glass, straw, etc.

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sum "16 or 16 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Shearing crushers are known for crushing various waste materials produced from industries such as tires incorporating bead wire, empty cans, plastics, paper, etc.

Generally, the shearing crusher comprises a casing defining a crushing chamber, a pair of opposing stationary blades disposed in the crushing chamber, and a rotatable cutter having blades on its outer periphery coacting with the stationary blades and rotatably supported within the crushing chamber. Waste material is fed to the crushing chamber through a feed inlet and crushed by a shearing force acting between the stationary blades and the rotary cutter blades.

With such shearing crusher heretofore known, the stationary blades and rotary blades are usually in parallel to each other in opposing relation and are also in parallel to the axis of the crushing chamber, so that the material is cut in linear fashion under a shearing force acting between the stationary blades and rotary blades. To give a sufficient shearing force to the rotary blades therefore, the rotary blades must be driven at a high speed to produce a great inertial force. However, when the material is crushed between the rotary blades and stationary blades, this results in not only very great impact and noise but also heat generation in the rotary blades, stationary blades and casing, causing partial damage as well as marked wear on these members and other constituent parts. Moreover, the heat generation involves the hazard of explosion and ignition during crushing and impairs the quality of the crushed product when it is put to a secondary use.

Furthermore, waste materials from industries are versatile in their properties: some are hard like iron or soft like rubber and some are fragile like glass and porcelain. They are also indefinite in shape. If it is attempted to subject these various materials to frequent shearing or crushing actions, the rotary blades must naturally be driven at a high speed, usually at 800 to 1,200 rpm, which consequently produces markedly great impact and noise during crushing operation.

In the case where the crushed material is applied to a secondary use, it is often desired that the crushed product be of a uniform size which may vary depending upon the use. For instance, it must be about mm. in size for use as a filler, or about 150 mm. for reclamation. It is nearly impossible to fulfil these requirements readily and suitably with conventional shearing crushers.

SUMMARY-OF THE INVENTION An object of this invention is to provide a crusher in which rotary cutters have helical blades positioned at a desired twist angle with respect to the stationary blades so that various materials can be sheared at a low rotational speed and which has therefore overcome'the problems and drawbacks described.

Another object of this invention is to provide a crusher in which the feed material can be sheared and forced out at the same time.

Another object of this invention is to provide a crusher in which the rotary cutters are in the form of blocks having helical blades to improve machinability, interchangeability, maintenance and inspection of the sameand to adapt the same for variation in the thrust, the helical blades further being adapted to be selectively positioned in the desired arrangement, so as to achieve an opt imum crushing operation inaccordance with crushing purposes and the kind of article to be crushed.

Another object of this invention is to provide a crusher capable. of crushing the feed material to a uniform size.

Another object of this invention is to provide a crusher which is capable of crushing various materials by shearing at a low rotational speed while subjecting the materials to a thrust so as to minimize impact and noise and to assure frequent shearing actions.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a crusher which eliminates pollution and which in itself does not cause secondary pollution.

The foregoing problems canbe overcome by providing blocklike rotary cutters rotatably supported within a crushing chamber and each provided on its outer periphery with helical blades positioned at a desired twist angle with respect to the axis of the chamber. More specifically, the crusher of the invention comprises a cylindrical crushing chamber defined by a casing composed of at least two segments dividably joined together diametrically thereof, the crushing chamber having a feed inlet at its starting end and a discharge outlet at its terminal end, stationary blades interposed between the joining faces of the segments and extending over the entire length of the crushing chamber in parallelto its axis, and blocklike rotary cutters rotatably supported on a shaft side by side within the crushing chamber and each having on its outer periphery a plurality of helical blades at a desired twist angle with respect to the axis. The material supplied through the feed inlet is sheared'by the helical blades and stationary blades while being sent forward in the crushing chamber under a thrust acting on the faces of helical blades of the rotary cutters. The sheared and crushed material is discharged through the discharge outlet at the terminal end of the crushing chamber, or through a size regulating member extending along the lower portion of the crushing chamber over its entire length and having discharge control apertures, or through both the lower portion and the terminal end of the crushing chamber.

These and other objects, features and advantages of this invention will become more apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawingsshowing embodiments of the invention for illustrative purposes only.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. lis a perspective view showing the entire appearance of a principal embodiment of the shearing crusher of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective viewshowing the entireappearance of a modified embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a front view in longitudinal section showin the principal parts of the crusher of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation in transverse section showing the same;

FIG. 5 is a front view in longitudinal section showing the principal parts of the crusher of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation in transverse section of the same;

FIG. 7 is a front view in longitudinal section showing a modification of the crusher shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a front view in longitudinal section showing another modification of the crusher of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a detailed side elevation showing a rotary cutter with helical blades fixed thereto;

FIG. is a front view of the same;

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective of the same;

FIG. 12 is a side elevation showing a disclike size regulating member composed of divided segments;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of the same;

FIG. 14 is aside elevation showing another embodiment of the same member;

FIGS. and 16 are side elevations showing other embodiments of the same member;

FIG. 17 is a side elevation showing a size regulating member having discharge control apertures and fixed to the terminalend of a crushing chmber;

FIGS. 18 and 19 are front views showing the arrangements of blocklike rotary cutters; and FIG. is a front view of the rotary cutters and size regulating members interposed therebetween.

DESCRIPTION I OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, a casing 2 having a semicircular cros s-section and formed with a feed inlet 1 at an upper portion of its starting end is joined with a casing 3 of a semicircular cross-section by bolts 4 to provide a cylindrical crushing chamber 5. An inner wall 1a defining the feed inlet 1 curves inward toward a stationary blade 6 positioned at a lower portion and serves to guide a materialsupplied from the feed inlet 1. The main portion of the crushing chamber 5 extending from the feed inlet 1, namely from a partition wall 7, is closed at its top and has a pocket 9 above the stationary blade 6 at the feeding side of rotary cutters 8. The marectly sent forward in the crushing chamber 5, so that the material can be fed uniformly onto the blocklike rotary cutters 8 which are supported on a shaft side by side to achieve an efficient crushing operation.

A pair of stationary blades 6 are set in position by bolts 10 in opposing relation to each other between joining faces of the casings 2 and 3. The stationary blades 6 extend over the entire length of the crushing chamber 5 in parallel to its axis. Since bolt holes 11 formed in the stationary blades 6 are in the form of a slot and pressed on by adjusting bolts 12 from behind, the stationary blades 6 are movable toward or away from the crushing chamber 5 diameterially thereof by manipulating the. bolts 12. i Another pocket 13, formed below the stationary blade 6, also assures an effective shearing operation as described above when the material positioned in the lower half of the crushing chamber 5 is moved around in the cavities of the rotary cutters 8.

The lower wall of the casing 3 extends'up to the position of the foremost rotary cutter 8, where it is cut out to provide an opening 14 at the terminal end of the crushing chamber 5. The opening 14 communicates with adischarge outlet 15, through which the crushing chamber 5 communicates with the exterior. To close the opposing ends of the crushing chamber 5, theopposite end walls of the casings 2 and 3 are formed with openings having a greater diameter than the outer di- 'ameter of the rotary cutter 8, and flanges l6 and 17 are fitted in the openings and fastened by bolts 18 and 19 respectively. The flanges 16 and 17 carry bearings 20 and 21 respectively, which support the opposite endsof a main shaft 22. In the embodiment shown, the main shaft 22 supports six block-like rotary cutters 8 arranged side by side. The two cutters positioned at the feed inlet 1 have three helical blades 8a, the next two cutters have four blades, and the two cutters at the terminal position have six blades. The rotary cutters 8 are so arranged that the helical blades 8a on one cutter are displaced from those on another adjacent cutter, the helical blades thus being out of phase.

FIGS. 9m 11 show a specific example of the threeblade rotary cutter. A main body 24 having a center bore 23 for passing themain shaft 22 is formed with three projections 25. The front side of each projection 25' with'respect to the rotational direction has a mounting face 26 formed at a suitable twist angle a with respect to the axis'of the bore 23.

A flat blade member 27 to be fitted to the mounting face 26 is fixedly provided with a blade 8a made of high-speed steel. When the blade member 27 is fitted to the mounting face 26, the blade 8a will of course be positioned at the twist angle a with respect to the axis.

To secure the .blade member 27 to the mounting face 26 by set bolts 28, the mounting face 26 has threaded bores 29 and the blade member 27 has slots 30 which are counterbored so as not to permit the heads of the bolts 28 to project from the face of the blade member 27.

To adjust the clearance between the edges of the stationary blades 6 and the blades Soon the rotary cutter 8, recesses 31 are formed in the rear face of each of the blade members 27 between adjacent slots 30 as seen in FIG. 11, and threaded holes 33 are formed in a portion 32 of the main body to be in facing relation to the recesses 31 (see FIG. 9). An adjusting bolt 34 is screwed in each of the threaded'holes 33, with the head of the bolt in contact with the bottom of the recess 31. A locking nut 35 retains the adjusting bolt 34 in position, the arrangement being such that by turning the adjust ing bolts 34 in screw-thread engagement with the holes 33, the. blade member 27 can be moved-outward for the adjustment'of the clearance. Alternatively, the bottom face of each recess 31 and the portion 32 may be formed with holes threaded in opposite-handed relation, in which screwed are the adjusting bolts having opposite-handed threaded portions. .Then the turning of the bolts 34 to the right or left will move the blade member 27 backwardorforward. In theembodiment of FIGS. 9 to 11, the adjusting bolts 34 are turned to determine the position of the blade member 27, and the locking nuts 35 are then turned to keep the bolts in position. After making such adjustment, the set bolts 28 are driven to fasten the blade member 27 in position..

As already described, the rotary cutters 8 each having a plurality of helical blades 8a on the outer periphery thereof are mounted on the main shaft 22 side by side, with the opposite ends of the shaft supported on the bearings 20 and 21. A fastening member 37 such as a nut driven into screw-thread engagement with threads 22a on the outerperiphery of the main shaft 22 secures the rotary cutter 8 to the main shaft 22 against sliding movement. In the illustrated embodiment, the rotary cutters 8 are further held to the main shaft 22 with a key. When a motor included in drive means on one end of the main shaft 22 is energized, the rotary cutters 8 are rotated in the crushing chamber 5. Suppose the tangential force exerted by the rotary cutter 8 along its outer periphery due to the rotation of the motor is F, the material is sheared by a force of F cos a while being driven forward by a thrust of F sin 11, since the helical blades 8a are inclined at the twist angle a. As a result, the material crushed to small pieces slide on the face of the helical blades 8a and is sent forward. If the rotary cutters 8 are arranged with varying phases as shown in FIG. 3, the interfaces of the rotary cutters 8 serve as barriers to retain the material to assure more frequent shearing actions.

Mounted on the main shaft 22 at the outlet side of the foremost rotary cutter 8 is a member 38 for regulating the size of crushed material. The size regulating member 38 is in the form of a disc whose diameter is smaller than the outer diameter of the rotary cutter 8 but greater than the diameter of root circle of the same. The size regulating member 38 almost closes the opening 14 to form an annular clearance between the outer peripheryof the member 38 and the inner peripheral face of the crushing chamber 5. The clearance serves to produce crushed pieces of a uniform size. Alternatively, a plurality of size regulating members 38 may of course be positioned between adjacent rotary cutters 8 as shown in FIG/20. In this case, greatereffectiveness will be achieved by providing disclike size regulating member 38 having progressively increasing diameters toward the terminal end of the crushing chamber 5 as apparent from FIG. 20,

Furthermore, the size regulating member 38 may be formed with a great number of discharge control apertures 39 in a portion thereof which has greater diameter than the diameter of root circle of the rotary cutter 8 as illustrated in FIG. 8, so that pieces smaller than the apertures may be discharged to obtain crushed pieces of a uniform size. Instead of forming the discharge control apertures 39, it is possible to use a reticular metal member as seen in FIG. 14.

FIGS. 12, 13 and show another type of size regulating member 38 which comprises separate segments 38a and 38a which are fixed to a collar 40 on the main shaft 22 by several bolts 41 diametrically extending through the segments 38a. By providing segments of varying sizes, for example, large, medium and small sizes, the clearance between the outer periphery of the disc and the inner face of the crushingchamber 5 can be readily controlled to vary the size of the crushed pieces. Further the discharge control apertures 39 in the segments 38a shown in FIG. 15 may have large, mediumor small size to produce crushed pieces of three different sizes. It is also possible to employ segments 38a having radially elongated holes 42 so that the segments 38a can be-displaced within the range-defined by the elongated holes 42 to adjustthe size as desired. Provision of divided segments 38a assures that the size regulating members can be interchanged with greater ease and the size can be readily regulated.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 includes a casing 3 defining the lower half of the crushing chamber 5 and having an opening coextensive with the chamber over its entire length. The opening is closed with a size regulating member 44 of a semicircular cross section having a great number of discharge control apertures 43. Crushed pieces not greater than the apertures 43 are all discharged through the apertures 43 in the regulating member 44, while those greater than the apertures are carried around in the cavities of the rotary cutters 8 so as to be subjected to a thrust and shearing operation until they are rendered small enough to pass through the apertures. The crushing chamber 5 of this type of crusheris closed at its opposite ends with flanges 16 and 17. Depending on the kind of material, part of the material may possibly be reduced during shearing to fine powder or melted due to heat generation. Accordingly, escape openings 45 are formed at the opposite ends of lower part of the closed crushing chamber 5 to run off the powder or fluidized material and thereby protect bearings or the like from erosion.

conventionally, the size regulating member 44 is provided at its circumferentially opposite ends with projecting flanges, which are fitted to the under face of the opening portion and secured by bolts. However, such construction is veryinconvenient when all the blocklike rotary cutters 8 have to be demounted from the main body for the control of size of crushed pieces, cleaning of the crushing chamber 5 or replacement of the member 44. Accordingly, the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 includes plates 46 positioned beneath the stationary blades 6 and secured in place by bolts 10 along with the stationary blades 6. A wedgelike space is I formed between the engaging end 47 of each plate 46 and the inner wall of the opening portion. The member 44 is sharp-edged at is. its opposite ends, which therefore fit in the spaces, permitting the engaging portions of the plates 46 to hold the member 44. According to this construction, the casing 2 which is hinged to the casing 3 as at 48 can be opened about the hinge 48 to remove the stationary blade 6 and plate 46 at one side. The member 44 can then be pulled out along the inner wall face of the opening portion, hence advantageous. The engaging portions 47 prevent the possible warping of opposite ends-of the member 44 during crushing and assure trouble-free operation. The same effect can likewise be achieved by fastening the opposite ends of the member 44 with pulling bolts, instead of using the foregoing means.

FIG.-7 shows a modified embodiment in which the size of the material can be regulated both at the lower half and at the terminal end of the crushing chamber 5. According to this embodiment, crushed pieces of sizes notgreater than the discharge control apertures 43 of the size regulating member 44 at the lower half are discharged through the apertures 43. This eliminates idle travel of the crushed pieces while mitigating the thrust. At the same time, only those greater than the apertures 43 are further sheared while being advanced by the thrust and finally. pass through the size regulating member 38 in uniform size.

Although the embodiments of FIGS. 3 and 8 have ro- I tary cutters 8 which are all arranged with varying phases, the first three rotary cutters positioned toward the feed inlet 1 may be arranged side by side so as to form continously helical blades, with the remaining three cutters forming blades which are out of phase with respect to one another as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7.

It is also possible as seen in FIG. 18 to provide the first three cutters toward the inlet 1 with continuously helical blades involving a greater twist angle a and to 

1. A shearing crusher comprising a cylindrical crushing chamber defined by a casing composed of at least two segments dividably joined together diametrically thereof, the crushing chamber having a feed inlet at its starting end and a discharge outlet at its terminal end, stationary blades interposed between the joining faces of the segments and extending over the entire length of the crushing chamber in parallel to its axis, and blocklike rotary cutters rotatably supported on a shaft side by side within the crushing chamber and each having on its outer periphery a plurality of helical blades at a desired twist angle with respect to the axis, so that a material supplied through the feed inlet is sheared by the helical blades and stationary blades while being sent forward in the crushing chamber under a thrust acting on the faces of helical blades of the rotary cutters discharged discharted through the discharge outlet when crushed to pieces.
 2. A shearing crusher comprising a cylindrical crushing chamber defined by a casing composed of at least two semments dividably joined together diametrically thereof, the crushing chamber having a feed inlet at its starting end, a closed terminal end and a lower opening extending over its entire length, stationary blades interposed between the joining faces of the segments and extending over the entire length of the crushing chamber in parallel to its axis, blocklike rotary cutters rotatably supported on a shaft side by side within the crushing chamber and each having on its outer periphery a plurality of helical blades at a desired twist angle with respect to the axis, and a size regulating member of a semicircular cross-section closing the lower opening of the crushing chamber and having a great number of discharge control apertures, so that a material supplied through the feed inlet is sheared by the helical blades and stationary blades while being sent forward in the crushing chamber under a thrust acting on the faces of helical blades of the rotary cutters and discharged through the discharge control apertures when crushed to pieces not greater than the discharge control apertures.
 3. A shearing crusher comprising a cylindrical crushing chamber defined by a casing composed of at least two segments dividably joined together diametrically thereof, the crushing chamber having a feed inlet at its starting end, a discharge outlet at its terminal end and a lower opening extending over its entire length, stationary blades interposed between the joining faces of the segments and extending over the entire length of the crushing chamber in parallel to its axis, and blocklike rotary cutters rotatably supported on a shaft side by side within the crushing chamber and each having on its outer periphery a plurality of helical blades at a desired twist angle with respect to the axis, a size regulating member of a semicircular cross-section closing the lower opening of the crushing chamber and having a great number of discharge control apertures, and a disclike size regulating member closing the discharge outlet and supported coaxially with the rotary cutter, the disclike size regulating member having a great number of discharge control apertures for forming a discharge control clearance between its outer periphery and the inner peripheral wall of the crushing chamber, so that a material supplied through the feed inlet is sheared by the helical bLades and stationary blades while being sent forward in the crushing chamber under a thrust acting on the faces of helical blades of the rotary cutters and discharged through both the size regulating members when crushed to pieces of a desired size.
 4. The shearing crusher as set forth in claim 1 wherein the number of helical blades on the blocklike rotary cutter decreases toward the feed inlet and increases toward the discharge outlet.
 5. The shearing crusher as set forth in claim 1 wherein the diameter of root circle of blocklike rotary cutters is smaller toward the feed inlet and greater toward the discharge outlet.
 6. The shearing crusher as set forth in claim 1 wherein a disclike size regulating member having an outer diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the rotary cutter but greater than the diameter of root circle thereof is disposed between the adjacent blocklike rotary cutters and/or on the side face of the rotary cutter exposed to the discharge outlet at the terminal position.
 7. The shearing crusher as set forth in claim 1 wherein the twist angle of the helical blades on the block-like rotary cutters is greater toward the feed inlet and smaller toward the discharge outlet.
 8. The shearing crusher as set forth in claim 1 wherein a disclike size regulating member having a great number of discharge control apertures is disposed between the adjacent blocklike rotary cutters and/or on the side face of the rotary cutter exposed to the discharge outlet at the terminal position, and the size regulating member at the discharge outlet is fixed in position against conjoint rotation with the rotary cutter.
 9. The shearing crusher as set forth in claim 2 wherein at least the foremost blocklike rotary cutter at the terminal position of the crushing chamber has helical blades positioned at a reverse twist angle. 